Surely, many of you have long been familiar with the fashion style, extremely popular in big cities Japan, and even if you did not know that it was called Harajuku, you still undoubtedly saw a strange and defiantly bright dressed girls, with flashy makeup.

Harajuku is a trend in Japanese youth fashion. The Harajuku style originated among teenagers on the streets of Tokyo's Harajuku shopping district, hence the name. Harajuku began when young Japanese living in the area began to incorporate elements of the traditional Japanese clothes into their everyday attire, in particular kimono and geta ( japanese shoes on a wooden base). Picking up new trends from the West, teenagers combined typically Western things with traditional clothes, and also combined things from second-hand and designer clothes. From the mixture of all this, the youth direction Harajuku appeared. In this Japanese fashion trend, a mixture different styles and incompatible colors are only supported - you can do whatever you want, because your appearance is an expression of your personality.

The clothes of super fashionable teenagers are emphasized by accessories - belts, earrings, clip-on earrings, handbags and jewelry. Remember, accessories can be multi-colored, heavy, and it is not at all necessary that they are in harmony with the clothes.
The appearance is complemented by various creative, one might even say, theatrical make-up (funny, scary, bright). You can do crazy hairstyles with braids and ponytails, and dyeing your hair is also popular.

It is not possible to single out one "Harajuku style". Many trends originated and evolved on the streets of the Harajuku area, and many Harajuku girls (as well as boys) incorporate elements of one or more of these styles into one outfit.

Gothic Lolita - adherents of this style combine gothic with feminine and elegant clothes resembling a porcelain doll.

Japanese punks, inspired by the punk movement that started in London back in the 70s, emphasize the defiance by wearing appropriate clothing, accessories, make-up and piercings.

Getting on the streets of Tokyo, you can plunge into the colorful palette of all kinds of fashion trends and art trends, in which you can easily get lost. Talk about any uniform style quite difficult, as well as to calculate how many fashion trends in Japan. But still, some of the styles are the most visible and popular. Let's talk about ten of them.

1. Harajuku (Harayuku). In fact, this is a rejection of a certain style. Each of the adherents this direction seeks to be as different as possible from others and to express his own I in clothes. Thus, they protest against the conservatism and strict mores of Japanese society. Harayuki is the choice of fashion fans and shopaholics.

Given that the described style is opposed to any specific trends, it still has some features. For example, this is the mixing of colors, the contrast of cute and delicate gizmos with sometimes shocking extravagant details, the constant presence of irony and humor in outfits.

2. Decora (Decor). The name of the direction speaks for itself. The main thing is to decorate yourself as much as possible, that is, to decorate. The style is especially common among teenage girls, who are happy to put on several layers of something pink, generously sprinkle their face with blush and attach strasses to everything they can. Both clothes and the body are decorated: from hair to shoes, including even small accessories, such as golf, hairpins, ribbons, etc. Cute, Stuffed Toys with sweet inscriptions: “Hello Kitty”, “My Melody”, etc. The makeup is seasoned with bright stickers, sparkles under the eyes, and as a hairstyle, naive large quantity various trinkets on them.

3. Bosozoku (Bosozoku). In this slightly aggressive style, a militaristic theme was mixed with a rocker one. Strange combination, isn't it? However, it does exist in Japan. It turns out a slightly futuristic image of a military rocker, or a biker soldier.

4. Gyaru (Giaru). Adherents of this trend oppose the usual standards of beauty with elegant pallor. Within the style, there are many branches, among which the most extreme, perhaps, is Ganguro. Imagine girls with thick self-tan, platinum hair, dressed like Californian surfers, upside-down panda eyes and bright white lips. These strange blondes often dye their hair in unexpected, juicy colors, and, echoing Decor's style, use a lot of rhinestones and face stickers.

5. Visual Kei (Visual Kei). The style was born under the fervent music of J-POP and rock-punk. Eccentric appearance, lots of metal accessories, punk hairstyles, rich smokey eyes, obligatory piercings, torn clothes, black nails, studded bracelets and collars - these are just some of the attributes of this style, common among fans of J-POP, rock punk and electronic music.

6. Dolly Kei (Dolly Kay). It's pretty new style, which was formed due to the passion of the Japanese for European folklore. Matryoshka dress in the image of the German Oktoberfest-Look is complemented by complex, traditional Slavic and floral patterns. On the Japanese, these outfits look very unusual and unique.

7. Mori Girl (Forest girl). The image of a forest nymph or fairy is very popular among Japanese women. Everything is natural, fragile and feminine: natural make-up, long, straight and slightly Wavy hair, a half-open braid and often a floral wreath, headband or bow. Several layers of very thin, translucent clothes in ivory, withered rose, peach, combined with shades of the forest, give the image airiness and fragility. Mori is a reader of Spoon Magazine, loves to just wander the streets, travel the world and drink tea.

8. Lolita. The name of the style comes from the scandalous novel by Vladimir Nabokov, and it is based on the image of the nymphet Dolores - insanely sexy, daring and infantile-immaculate, modest at the same time. There are several varieties of the Lolita style in Japan, but the most common of these is the Gothic Lolita style, with the image of a Victorian porcelain doll in a gloomy entourage with a contrasting palette. Black dresses with white blouses, gothic accessories, white or black (usually fishnet) stockings predominate. An unnaturally pale face and, as a rule, black flowing hair with cute bangs complete the look.

9. Rockabilly. This style is a tribute to the fashion of the 50s and the work of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe: polka dot pattern, pencil skirts, nautical motifs, impeccable makeup and hairstyles. Young people have half-buttoned shirts invitingly showing their breasts, as was the case with Presley, powerful belts gird black jeans or leather pants. Women's clothing should emphasize the beauty of the figure, focusing on a thin waist. Rockabilly girls almost never wear trousers, wearing mostly skirts and dresses. Despite its stardom and Hollywood chic, this style is far from the most popular in Japan.

10. Yukata Style (Yukata Style). It is more typical for the older generation, but in Kyoto you can see many young girls in yukata - their kind of light kimono version. Wearing it is cheaper and easier than changing into a real, national Japanese costume.

Throughout the week, most Japanese fashionistas wear normal work or office attire. And only on weekends, and especially on Saturday, they allow themselves to change into something unusual and bright. Many Japanese women love excessively short skirts complete with school uniform and golfs, so often the heroines of erotic manga and anime look like. But such images are allowed only in their free time from study and work. Often there are girls in bright wigs of unnatural shades, with colored lenses and corsets from the time of Marie Antoinette. Anyway, the main rule of fashion in Japan is to wear what you want. It is important to reflect your Self and protest the gray everyday life.

Photo: saryre.blogspot.ru, tokyofaces.com, kulturologia.ru/

If you are going to Tokyo in the near future, be sure to look into the Harajuku quarter, because you will not see such a riot of colors, textures and incredible style anywhere else.

The Tokyo area called Harajuku is the real epicenter street fashion. An explosion of colours, textures and eccentricity culminates in this small area, home to the largest concentration of boutiques and shopping malls for all tastes. The culture of the Harajuku region was introduced to the global public in 2004 by Gwen Stefani, but this fashion lived and flourished here long before that.

1. Tens of thousands of fans visit this quarter every day to see what's hot and spend a fortune on new styles and trends.

2. This is one of the most "hipster" areas of Tokyo, where you can see a lot more colorful and incredibly bold people than in the most fashionable nightclubs.

3. Harajuku has long been a true center of style and street fashion. A kind of fashion, of course, but still.

4. During the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, people flocked here to see the athletes staying at the Olympic Village.

6. In the late 70s, the Laforet shopping center opened, which became the real "crown" of Harajuku.

7. Even then, Harajuku strengthened its status as the main fashion district in all of Japan.

8. Although Harajuku is the eternal destination of all things avant-garde, local styles and trends change at the speed of light.

9. And local youth are trying to keep up with fashion or even influence upcoming trends and trends.

10. From cyberpunk to gothic to gothic lolita, from steampunk to decor, Harajuku manages to combine pop culture and haute couture and creates a completely unique atmosphere.

11. Many foreigners who have visited Harajuku cannot help but be imbued with its eccentric and cheerful spirit.

Surprisingly, it is in Japan, whose inhabitants are famous for their special restraint and reverence for traditions, that perhaps the most informal youth in the world lives. Only here in broad daylight can you meet girls and young people with scary make-up and completely crazy clothes. True, these fans of bright individuality live in only one district of Tokyo - Harajuku. It is here that crowds of tourists rush, eager to see with their own eyes all the diversity and riot of colors characteristic of the style of local residents.

Harajuku is a kind of fashionable center of the Japanese capital. There are large shopping centers and boutiques of world brands. And it is here that all the progressive and rebellious youth of the land of the rising sun strive. Local dandies have managed to create their own, very special world, which has its own rules and trends. Gathering every day in the vicinity of Harajuku, young men and women arrange a kind of defile here, designed to show all the variety of styles and trends popular with Japanese youth.

Today, the Harajuku style is this many different looks. If you think that these young people are just thoughtlessly putting on everything that comes to hand, then you are mistaken. It has its own trends and its unconditional authorities. Here are just a few of the styles that are often found in Harajuku (by the way, some of them are popular not only in Japan):

- "Lolita" - this direction originated in the 70s. Lolita is a whole subculture that is incredibly popular in Japan. The real heyday of the fashion movement was in the 90s, when it began to be used by youth music bands playing in visual kei style. The subculture has several directions: "Gothic Lolita", "Sweet Lolita", "Punk Lolita". Young people who popularize this style prefer doll-style clothes, shoes on high heels, intricate headdresses and bright makeup.

“Cosplay” is the style of manga and anime fans. cosplay fans in real life dress up just like their favorite comic book characters. "Cosplay" is a complete copy of the anime style: the closer the image is to the original source, the more likely it is to be noticed in the crowd.

- "Wamono" - fans of this trend combine elements of traditional Japanese attire with things typical of Western fashion in one set.

- "Kawaii" - a style created on the basis of children's wardrobe. In other words, kawaii fans are trying to create a cute and playful look.

Of course, these divisions are very arbitrary, because the youth of Harajuku prefer not to stand still, but to constantly create completely new directions. It is no coincidence that this area is called the center of Japanese street fashion. Local creatives know how to surprise: crazy combinations, bright colours and completely unexpected images for Harajuku are in the order of things.

Fans of the peculiar Japanese fashion even have their own similarity to the famous Vogue - Fruits magazine. It was this edition that played a big role in popularizing Harajuku fashion trends not only in Japan, but also in many countries of the world. All the diversity of Japanese street fashion is often combined into one term - the "Fruits" style.

In general, in Japan, the Harajuku phenomenon is studied not only by fashion critics, but also by sociologists. The latter are trying to find out what is the reason for such a desire of Japanese youth for self-expression. According to experts, the Harajuku style is a kind of response of rebellious teenagers to a structured and traditional Japanese society. It can be said that Harajuku is not just an attempt to surprise and stand out from the crowd of identically dressed citizens, but also a desire to declare oneself as a bright individuality with a special inner world.

The average Japanese teenager does not care about long reports of boring institute clerks. In pursuit of bright novelties and unusual accessories, they hardly think about what is behind the craze of the inhabitants of Harajuku.

Looking at this motley crowd, many come up with a comparison with the theater of the absurd. However, Harajuku is still not just a shocking youth, it is, first of all, an amazing combination of creativity, the spirit of freedom and an ironic attitude towards oneself and others.